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[The Mana Legend]

Anybody remember Mega Man? The Blue Bomber, born on December 17th, 1987, was a mainstay for gaming fans throughout the late eighties and on through the 90s. Many of his titles, particularly Mega Man 2 and Mega Man X, have gone onto become hailed as some of the greatest video games ever.

Spanning across just about any video game genre imaginable, Mega Man has graced (and disgraced us) with games ranging from platformers, to sports titles, and even a fan made Doom clone. Many were fantastic, while others nearly brought the franchise into Sonic territories of embarrassment.

Yet Mega Man endured, even having retro revivals under the likes of Mega Man 9 and 10. Fans rejoiced as Mega Man dumped most of his Capcom-obsessed spinoffs and return to his 8-bit basics.

Unfortunately, the revival did not last. Despite the success of Mega Man 9 and 10, Mega Man suffered a major stroke, most likely brought on by the lack of vacation time the previous couple of decades, while working on his next title, Mega Man Universe. Like the true champ he was, he was right out of the hospital a month or so later to finish work on Universe. However, while his work ethic was admirable, Mega Man was no longer the man he once was. He did not move like he once did and he was physically and visually deteriorating.

His conditioned worsened when Capcom hired a new protagonist for the long awaited Mega Man Legends 3. This was meant to be temporary, however, as Capcom was expecting a full return of Mega Man in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, Mega Man's health fell so far to the point where he could no longer continue work on Mega Man Universe, prompting its cancellation.

Tragically, Mega Man succumbed to his illness and died on July 18th, 2011.


----------------------------------------


Yes, this is a playthrough topic to celebrate the late, great Blue Bomber that we all love. I plan on playing through, discussing, and reviewing every Mega Man title available (other than probably the GBA Battle Network games considering there are 1000 of them and I don't have that much time for them). If anyone else wants to play through and do the same thing, then feel free!

----------------------------------------

Playthroughs:

Noi
Mega Man X2 - Barebones Run (Buster-only, No Heart/Subtanks), No X-Hunters defeated

Megarockexe
Mega Man
Mega Man 2

The Mana Legend
Mega Man 3 (Finished) - 1:00:57
Mega Man 4 (Finished) - 1:03:20
Mega Man 5 (Finished) - 1:06:41
Mega Man 6 (Finished) - 1:02:04
Mega Man 7 (Finished) - 1:29:48
Mega Man 8 (Finished) - 2:02:38
Mega Man & Bass (Finished, Currently Uploading)
Mega Man 9 (Finished)
Mega Man 10 (Currently On Hold)
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (Currently Playing)

KMD

Mega Man 3 Speedrun


Quick Reviews:

The Mana Legend
Mega Man (NES) - C+
Mega Man 2 (NES) - A
Mega Man 3 (NES) - B-
Mega Man 4 (NES) - B
Mega Man 5 (NES) - C-/A+
Mega Man 6 (NES) - D
Mega Man 7 (SNES) - A-
Mega Man 8 (PS1) - D-
Mega Man & Bass (SNES) - B+
Mega Man & Bass 2 (WS) - F
Mega Man 9 (Wii) - A+
Mega Man 10 (Wii) - C
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (GB) - C
Mega Man 2 (GB) - F

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

The Legend Will Never Die!

Spoiler

But it did

I plan on going through Rockman DASH sometime later this year. I'm thinking around the 15th anniversary of its release, of course.

 

[SolarKnight]

Nice, this gives me an excuse to make the naked playthroughs of Starforce I've been wanting to make. I seriously doubt I'll finish any game though. The games may be really damn easy normally, but without HP or buster upgrades, only your starting folder, and no transformations...it's gonna be hell at one point.

 

[Raptomex]

R.I.P.

 

[commish]

I don't even know how I would go about playing those old ones outside of an emulator. My fav Mega Man game will always be the first Mega Man x

 

[ShinHayase]

This franchise will make a comeback like none of you can imagine now.

 

[The Mana Legend]

This franchise will make a comeback like none of you can imagine now.

Yeah Mega Man Act Zero.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

This franchise will make a comeback like none of you can imagine now.

"That gum you like is going to come back in style!"

Not with Capcom's current administration!

 

[Noi]

Excellent. I'm not creative enough to do long posts like they do over in the Final Fantasy thread, but I'll be contributing by live streaming myself doing the barebones challenges for as much of the series as I can.

I'm

Spoiler

not

looking forward to it.

 

[Tizoc]

Well I COULD beat Rockman 2 again....

The Legend Will Never Die!

Spoiler

But it did

Whatchu ramblin' about kimosabe?

 

[The Mana Legend]

Mega Man (NES) - Part 1

DISCLAIMER: I know none of the names of the enemies in the Mega Man games, so I just make names up.

Funny enough, Mega Man was the LAST of the Classic Mega Man games that I ever played. I started with Mega Man 5 (NES) back when I was a little shit in the early nineties. Then went to Mega Man 2, then 6, then X, and then the rest randomly came about throughout the years. I finally played Mega Man 1 in the Summer of 1998 when I finally got sick of looking at old Nintendo Power screenshots of it. My mom bought it super cheap for me at a local store and I was so excited.

Well, needless to say, it kicked my ass. I finally was able to do a barebones playthrough of it without getting hit once in the mid-2000s, and my anger has prevented me from ever replaying it. Until now.

-----

Considering I am going to do a barebones run through of all of these games, it didn't matter what order I did these in, so I just started with Bomb Man, the dude with the easiest level and the easiest boss in the game. Surely enough, when I was a 9 year old boy, nothing scared me more than this:

The random ball tower in the background with the Energy eyes and the indifferent expression. Shit scared me when I was a kid, no joke. Still looks pretty freaky today, and I still say that Capcom did this on purpose. Just to prove that Mega Man wasn't fucking around in happy Mario land.

Well, the level is pretty easy. Dodge shit here, dodge shit there. Probably the most standard of all of the Mega Man 1 stages, with no gimmicks and no particularly different part. So after breezing through his stage, I come to the iconic Mega Man Boss door:

Quite possibly the most satisfying door ever in a video game for me. Getting here proves your worth, despite, more than likely, harder obstacles beyond. Which comes to one of the biggest difference between Mega Man 1 and the further entries: the obstacle courses before each boss. Unlike other Mega Mans, which feature a small corridor between doors, Mega Man 1 tries to kick your ass one last time before reaching the boss.

Thankfully, the Bomb Man obstacle course is wimpy as shit, just dodging the suction cup octopus robot thingamajigs. Just time the ladder and work your way down.

I reach Bomb Man:

He dead. Collecting power up disc thing, continue to...

....CUT MAN!

Cut Man might be most famous for his Mega Man cartoon appearances (and for being the first boss ever for many Mega Man fans), but here is stage is actually a pain in the ass at times. Thanks to green shield dudes, flying shield popper shooters, offSPRINGS, blue dentures with soul staring eyes, and homing haircutters, it is pretty annoying to navigate.

Thankfully, I still got the Mega Man moves! I navigate the level mostly cleanly, and make it to Cut Man. Cut Man's main attack is throwing scissors at you and jumping. He's like Quick Man if Quick Man was bludgeoned over the head by Guts Man a few hundred times.

He dead. I got some more useless points, probably the most annoying and pointless thing about Mega Man 1.

Two down, FOUR TO GO!

 

[BigJonsson]

HADOKEN!

 

[Boney]

waiting for megaman xover to celebrate in style

 

[The Mana Legend]

Mega Man (NES) Part 2

Onto Guts Man, the big lovable dumbass that spends his times smashing rocks. Other than Ice Man's stage, Guts Man's is considered the most difficult, if only for the flipper conveyor belt things at the beginning:

I never had a problem with the conveyor belt obstacle. In fact, I always found is insanely easy, especially considering how short it is. It last maybe 20 seconds total in the entire level, and once you understand how to jump before each flipper gap, it becomes a cakewalk. Similarly, the similar portions later on in the series (such as Tornado Man's stage) were always very easy for me as well.

That said, the rest of the level is super easy also. Other than the Construction Workers:

Fuck those guys. Super easy to kill, but their Hammer Bros. obsession of throwing shit at me gets really annoying if you get stuck in one of their random endless onslaughts.

Once I get passed the construction crew, the rest of the level is a breeze. I make it to Guts Man and promptly kick his ass and get Super Rock Grabber/Thrower ability. DONE!

Next up:

Bar none considered the hardest level out of the original 6 robot masters. The level is infamous for introducing the disappearing blocks, one of the mainstays of the entire franchise:

And of course:

The random floating pea shooters that have bombardments of penguins flying after you. This portion would not be so difficult if it were not for the random nature of the platforms, which behave eradically. I've had times in the past where the platforms will just float at the bottom for minutes on end before they get high enough where I can jump to the next one.

Thankfully, that did not happen here. I made it safely across without getting it, and made it past the Penguin obstacle course before Ice Man:

Funny how the hardest level of the robot masters also has the easiest boss fight. He is a complete wimp, even without the Elec Man ability.

With Guts Man dead, it's onto the final two Robot Masters, Fire Man and Elec Man!

 

[The Mana Legend]

Mega Man Part 3

Onto Fire Man, who has the second hardest stage in the game thanks to orange shit pillars and the fire dudes from the US version of Super Mario Bros. 2.

But yeah, the level is annoying. Lots of dodging of mini-Fryguys and orange shit pillars, and the heater fire shooter:

Eventually after much annoyance, I manage to make my way to Fire Man, who I find to be the most annoying of the original 6 Robot Masters solely because he shoots fast and shoots endlessly. Thankfully, my Mega Man skills kick in once again and I beat Fire Man without a scratch!

I get his ability and move onto Elec Man, who probably contains the most important stage in the history of the classic Mega Man titles. More on that later.

But Elec Man's stage is a constant climb up, similar to that of Crash Man's from Mega Man 2. Several annoyances thwart you along the way, and chances are you'll be falling off A LOT of ladders.

These things suck if you're not expecting them or your timing is slightly off. Often times they hit you and cause you to fall not only off the ladder, but all the way back down to the screen(s) below you. It is pretty damn annoying, but falling off ladders is something that has also become a staple of the Classic series (unfortunately)!

Now, to the reason why Elec Man's stage is the most important stage in the Classic series:

Yes, this is the most important stage in Classic Mega Man history. Not because of any reason but this. You miss this item, you are pretty much fucked. You cannot complete the game without it. As of today, no Mega Man level has pissed off and annoyed more people for such a stupid reason. Deep down I know that Capcom thought this was the stupidest fucking decision in Mega Man history and rectified it by ridding the world of its filth in all subsequent Mega Man games.

Luckily, I remembered to get it! The only time I'll be using a special ability in my entire Mega Man barebones playthrough.

But I get to the Elec Man boss door and navigate the slowest and most annoying Obstacle Course in the game, the Elec Ladder.

Unlike Bomb Man where you can just get hit and drop down to the boss, if you get hit here, you're pretty much fucked and have to start the annoyingly slow ladder over again. But I get through it without a scratch and go against Elec Man! He has the hardest attack to dodge in the game if you're not prepared, as the size of his electric shock is fairly massive. If you're prepared, however, he becomes a cake walk and promptly gets his ass beat.

That's it, all Robot Masters dead! ONTO DOCTUH WIWIE

 

[Gilgamesh]

I played a bit of the Gameboy entry Mega Man III earlier. Maneuverability is a bitch. MM's sprite takes up a massive percentage of screen space. Add a robot master to the equation and you have very little room to work with. I was convinced that a no damage battle with Snake Man was impossible until I searched YouTube for video proof.

 

[The Mana Legend]

I played a bit of the Gameboy entry Mega Man III earlier. Maneuverability is a bitch. MM's sprite takes up a massive percentage of screen space. Add a robot master to the equation and you have very little room to work with. I was convinced that a no damage battle with Snake Man was impossible until I searched YouTube for video proof.

Yeah, the size of Mega Man in the GB games is pretty annoying.

 

[The Mana Legend]

Well, I beat Mega Man 1 last night and wrote a mini-review.

--------------


Despite being the original, and despite it being so influential that it remained the Mega Man formula for 23 years, Mega Man does not hold up nearly as well as its successors. This becomes apparent the second you step into any of the six original Robot Master stages, with flat, boring terrain and unfair enemy placement. It is challenging to be sure, but unlike future Mega Man titles, there is no satisfaction when clearing a tough spot. Rather, you steam at the cheapness of the whole affair, from enemies respawning just a millimeter off the screen, constant bullets flying at you from off screen, and more. It is a frustrating experience if you are not familiar with the game. It is made worse by the flat and dull level design, which makes the cheap difficulty even more noticeable.

There is no pattern to many of the most annoying elements of the game. For instance, when climbing a ladder in Elec Man’s stage, green enemies appear from both sides to shoot electricity at you. The problem is, you never know when the enemies will show up, and often times they will show up right when you are about to transition into the next screen, effectively knocking you off the ladder and sometimes back to the bottom floor. This happens all throughout the game, making it the most frustrating experience of the original eight Classics.

Thankfully, the controls are surprisingly tight for the first game in a major franchise. Unlike Mario, Mega Man retained almost the same controls and physics throughout its entire NES run. Other than a few changes, such as climbing ladders faster, the controls in Mega Man became the standard for the series for years. They are tight, but difficult to master, and never get in the way of the actual gameplay. When you die, you never blame the controls, and just assume it is your own stupidity or the cheapness of the level design.

While the game is not nearly as balanced in terms of difficulty as future entries, it still has the most memorable cast of Robot Masters in the series. This is possibly due to there being only six instead of the usual eight, but when asked to name every Robot Master from each game, chances are you’ll probably mix some up or forget some completely. But not with the original, all of whom have become staples of the entire series. Ice Man and Fire Man in particular are important seeing how they paved the way for the Mega Man cliché of having one fire-based Robot Master and one ice/water-based one.

With such memorable Robot Masters, you would expect the game to have memorable music. Unfortunately, this is not the case. In fact, other than the iconic boss intro music, the music is fairly forgettable. It is a standard NES soundtrack, and one that can often drive you absolutely nuts. Just try leave the game on the boss select screen for a while. If that does not make you want to go postal, nothing will. Even the Elec Man cover of Journey’s Faithfully is butchered.

Overall, the game is probably the worst of all of the original six NES Mega Man titles. Bland level design and cheap difficulty, mixed with the forgettable soundtrack and a few glitches, Mega Man does not hold up nearly as well today as a few of the later entries. Having said that, it did lay the foundation for the entire series, bringing Mega Man standards such as the disappearing blocks and the rock/paper/scissors gameplay to the world. It is not a great game by any means, but one that holds significant historical value and one that will always be remember for starting it all.

Rating: C+

 

[wondermega]

Well, I beat Mega Man 1 last night and wrote a mini-review.

Rating: C+

MM1 Defense Force Incoming! I want to take you to task for this. But 1st of all, this is a great thread and I appreciate the time & energy you are putting into it, lots of good reading & great memories. I hope you'll do Castlevania next As for MM1:

Of course, the game must be viewed through a filter of the time when it was originally released. It was a fairly landmark title, came out rather quietly and sort of a sleeper hit in its day (there wasn't much in the way of game media to spread the word, and I don't recall any advertising for it whatsoever). Capcom still seemed to be a relatiely young Nintendo licensee, with a middling track record (in general, their games were a bit above average of other releases in the NES library, but not by a huge margin). I remember coming home from the arcade on Saturday and loading up my friend's copy of MM1 for the first time, and being pretty startled about how the game looked and played. It definitely felt miles beyond a lot of what else was on NES at the time, actually it did feel much closer to an arcade game than many other carts (the holy grail of Home Gaming!) between the colors, the variety of characters, the constant smooth rhythm of action.

I was immediately hooked on the game and played my way through it several times; it felt like a nice halfway point between the speed, action, and character of say SMB and the slow, plodding exploring and mystique of Castlevania - challenging enough, but not frustratingly so like Ghosts n Goblins - and of course Mega Man had a brilliant, energized style all it's own. The ability to collect so many different weapons and use them as you saw fit was really a powerful and mindblowing mechanic the likes of which hadn't really been demonstrated in a similar fashion elsewhere to that point, unless you consider the powerup systems in Metroid (although that behaved very differently, obviously).

As for the levels, there was a very nice balance - lots of variety, every stage had a unique-enough theme with it's own challenges, often it's own characters. everything felt different and it was very hard to get bored in general. If you got frustrated with one level, you could simply quit out and try your luck with a different part of the game instead (again, something never really seen before in such a manner). Aside from the huge graphical impact - and I say that despite the unassuming simplicity of the main character - the soundtrack was (and still is) pretty bopping and interesting. Sometimes I would just beat the game because I wanted to watch the ending sequence and hear the cool tune that would play.

Sure, there were plenty of cheap shots in the game, and lots of the usual technical limitations of the day that would rear their heads as they did in so many NES games of the time - this was pretty normal, so it didn't seem unusual when the game released, although in hindsight such things stick out like a sore thumb.

The first MM game will always stick out as an ageless platforming classic for me, warts and all. The introduction to a crazy new world as fresh and exciting as SMB was, with it's own mechanics and rules to the degree that it never felt like any kind of me-too - the perfect lead-in (and companion piece to) Mega Man 2, which I'll acknowledge as a dramatically superior effort in regards to the first, although in my experience I have to say that MM1, between graphics/characters/soundtrack/gameplay. felt on equal-enough footing with MM3 and beyond.

So there in a nutshell is my breakdown of the game. Deserving far better of a grade than a C+, at worst I'd rank in a solid B since I still consider it very playable, fun to look at, perfectly smooth to handle control-wise, although certainly flawed in some regards.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

"That gum you like is going to come back in style!"

Not with Capcom's current administration!

Capcom's current administration is busy pursuing new concepts

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

flat, boring terrain

I'll admit the colors are pretty bland but the actual level design? Not boring at all. In fact, I think the stage design in MM1 is more interesting and creative than that found in a lot of the more recent MM games.

Also, I'm surprised you didn't think the level tunes were memorable. Few Mega Man tracks stand out to me as well as Cut Man and Guts Man's stage themes.



Overall, I'd rank MM1 third in the pantheon of NES Mega Man titles, not including the outstanding MM9 and the pretty darn good MM10.

 

[The Mana Legend]

After suffering through the annoyance of Mega Man, I have finally made my way to what is considered the greatest Mega Man game to ever exist: Mega Man II. No introduction is needed, other than this:

Fucking badass.

Well, this game marks the first Mega Man game to introduce the eight boss format, a feature that almost all future Mega Man titles would have. And unlike the original Mega Man, the boss selection screen does not drive me up a fucking wall. As this is a mega buster only run through of all of the Classic titles, I figured I’d just start with Bubble Man.

Fuck yeah, the best boss stage music in the entire game. It is calming, and insanely catchy. The level itself is actually pretty annoying, particularly the frogs that shoot three smaller frogs out at you. The worst part is, the Mama Frogs take an insane amount of damage and just want goddamn die. But if you know how to dodge the baby frogs while simultaneously shooting their moms, it isn’t so bad.

This brings us to the introduction of water in a Mega Man title. Most decent platforming titles always have memorable water moments: Mario, Sonic, and for me, the most memorable water levels, Mega Man. Water in Mega Man games signaled lots of fun high jumping, and lots and LOTS of dying against horrible spikes that Capcom likes to litter throughout every damn water level. But I can’t help but love the shit out of them.

After kicking some shell-crab things and a giant fish that pukes shrimp, I navigate my way through the easy spike maze while avoiding robot metroids. Easy stuff if you are a Mega Man veteran. Eventually I come to another giant waterfall-background area, where this time I have to avoid falling lobsters. Probably the easiest part of the entire level, for sure.

Navigating the easy platforms, I make it to the boss room. For many Mega Man fans, Bubble Man’s room was the first safe haven in their Mega Man lives. There are no annoying obstacle courses like in the original, but rather a safe place of serenity before you eventually get massacred by the boss…

…Which thankfully does not happen considering Bubble Man is a wimp. Easily avoidable bubbles and a pathetic little pea shooter make him a complete joke. The only thing to truly worry about is jumping too high, which is not an issue at all with me. So I destroy the ever living shit out of him. And get…Bubble Lead! This also marks the first game in the series that actually has a screen telling you what you got from the boss, unlike Mega Man I’s more ambiguous take on it.

Anyways, onto Air Man!

His level is pretty straight forward. Unfortunately, as I was playing this level just now, I noticed something very odd about an aesthetic design of the level…

…The opposite Goatse. A poor soul, trapped in the Goatse anus, desperately trying to break free. A tragedy, and the worst part is, dozens of them are littered throughout the level. What a sad sight indeed.

Anyways, there really is not anything particularly special about Air Man’s level (other than the creepy floating heads that shoot other floating heads out of its ears, and of course the badass music!). Just time your jumps, dodge shit, make your way past the fat wind blower dudes, and get to Air Man…

…Who is a complete pain in the fucking ass. He plays like Ice Man’s evil, much stronger older brother. He shoots tornadoes randomly across the screen, but instead of doing it one by one like Ice Man’s icicles, he just shoots a dozen at you at the same time, and you have an incredibly small window to jump through. This makes him an annoyance to defeat with only a Mega Buster, but it is certainly doable! And I did it without too much trouble.

And I get his ability and a new feature to the Mega Man series, the Items, which are basically a precursor to Rush, and are extremely helpful at certain points in the game (particularly Heat Man’s stage).

Up next? Metal Man and Wood Man!

 

[The Mana Legend]

I'll admit the colors are pretty bland but the actual level design? Not boring at all. In fact, I think the stage design in MM1 is more interesting and creative than that found in a lot of the more recent MM games.

Also, I'm surprised you didn't think the level tunes were memorable. Few Mega Man tracks stand out to me as well as Cut Man and Guts Man's stage themes.



Overall, I'd rank MM1 third in the pantheon of NES Mega Man titles, not including the outstanding MM9 and the pretty darn good MM10.

The entire thing sort of just felt bland to me, like a lot of untapped games that have insanely superior sequels. It lays down the foundation greatly, but it struggles to find its identity.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

The entire thing sort of just felt bland to me, like a lot of untapped games that have insanely superior sequels. It lays down the foundation greatly, but it struggles to find its identity.

Funnily enough, I actually played MM1 long after I played through MM2 through MM5. Yet I vastly prefer MM1 to MM4 or MM5 in just about every area. I think a lot more thought went into the design of Mega Man 1 compared to the later ones, although it's certainly less polished than those later entries.

 

[The Mana Legend]

Funnily enough, I actually played MM1 long after I played through MM2 through MM5. Yet I vastly prefer MM1 to MM4 or MM5 in just about every area. I think a lot more thought went into the design of Mega Man 1 compared to the later ones, although it's certainly less polished than those later entries.

I always got the feeling from the game that they just said "lets throw this in there, see if it works, and if it doesn't we'll change it for the next game." Hence why there's a lot of jarring things about it, in my opinion. Scoring system, that super healing item that only appears once, a few things that show up once and the never show up again, etc. A lot of it just felt random.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I always got the feeling from the game that they just said "lets throw this in there, see if it works, and if it doesn't we'll change it for the next game." Hence why there's a lot of jarring things about it, in my opinion. Scoring system, that super healing item that only appears once, a few things that show up once and the never show up again, etc. A lot of it just felt random.

Ah, the Yashichi. It's a special item found it many older Capcom titles. I think they just threw it in there as a sort of ongoing in-joke.

Regarding the scoring system, I believe at the time it was still a bit of a transitional period between arcade and console games. Mega Man 1 was Capcom's very first exclusive home game, so it does make sense that the game would retain some arcade-like qualities. Of course they realized how pointless the scoring system was and omitted it in all of the later entries.

 

[The Mana Legend]

Ah, the Yashichi. It's a special item found it many older Capcom titles. I think they just threw it in there as a sort of ongoing in-joke.

Regarding the scoring system, I believe at the time it was still a bit of a transitional period between arcade and console games. Mega Man 1 was Capcom's very first exclusive home game, so it does make sense that the game would retain some arcade-like qualities. Of course they realized how pointless the scoring system was and omitted it in all of the later entries.

Yeah, I did like that return of the Yashichi in Mega Man 10 on Easy Mode. I thought it was hilarious that they put it in Easy Mode considering Easy Mode in MM10 is the most pathetically easy thing I've ever seen in a Mega Man game.

 

[Sn4ke_911]

This thread makes me sad.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

I'm looking forward to hearing you try to describe Crash Man's music.

 

[UpperCaseN]

…Who is a complete pain in the fucking ass. He plays like Ice Man’s evil, much stronger older brother. He shoots tornadoes randomly across the screen, but instead of doing it one by one like Ice Man’s icicles, he just shoots a dozen at you at the same time, and you have an incredibly small window to jump through. This makes him an annoyance to defeat with only a Mega Buster, but it is certainly doable! And I did it without too much trouble.

wait, you can just do what I call "strongarm" him. You should be able to make it through his level without taking much damage if any at all. When you fight Air Man, if you have most of your health, you can mindlessly beat him with no trouble at all. Just run towards him and spam the buster. They'll bounce off the tornadoes and when the tornadoes move, let them hit you. You'll take damage but continue running towards him as you shoot; stop if you get to the midpoint, the tornadoes have passed, and you're landing shots on him. Your shots deal more damage to him than the tornadoes do to you, so even though you'll take damage, you'll just outlast him. He'll switch sides but just move whatever direction is towards him. Also if you get to him without much health, just die and start over at the boss door with full health. He's probably the easiest boss in this game because you can mindlessly beat him

 

[The Mana Legend]

wait, you can just do what I call "strongarm" him. You should be able to make it through his level without taking much damage if any at all. When you fight Air Man, if you have most of your health, you can mindlessly beat him with no trouble at all. Just run towards him and spam the buster. They'll bounce off the tornadoes and when the tornadoes move, let them hit you. You'll take damage but continue running towards him as you shoot; stop if you get to the midpoint, the tornadoes have passed, and you're landing shots on him. Your shots deal more damage to him than the tornadoes do to you, so even though you'll take damage, you'll just outlast him. He'll switch sides but just move whatever direction is towards him. Also if you get to him without much health, just die and start over at the boss door with full health. He's probably the easiest boss in this game because you can mindlessly beat him

Uh, this isn't exactly a good strategy when you're trying to beat the game without getting hit, which is what I try to do everytime I play Mega Man games now (I've done it before with Mega Man 1-10, and now I can't play them WITHOUT trying to do a no-hit run).

Anyways, time to continue Mega Man 2! Crash Man is next!

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

To be frank, that fight pisses me off so much I usually brute force it as well.

Unless I'm remembering incorrectly, I think you can slide under the tornadoes in the MM3 Doc Robot version, which completely trivializes him.

 

[Pikma]

I can play the Battle Network games for you, guys!

*remembers the artificially prolonged quests of Mega Man Battle Network 4: Blue Moon*

Fuck this shit, I'll just play the first three.

 

[Krelian]

Unless I'm remembering incorrectly, I think you can slide under the tornadoes in the MM3 Doc Robot version, which completely trivializes him.

Only when there's no tornado at the bottom. I haven't played it in a while but I think often you simply can't slide because of that.

 

[Shadowman16]

Only when there's no tornado at the bottom. I haven't played it in a while but I think often you simply can't slide because of that.

Yep, that was my experience as well. For his MM2 boss fight I just rushed up to Air Man (not caring if I got hit) and just hammered the fire button until he died (which didn't take long).

I really hated the fact that on Wily Wars they depowered your buster for boss battles so you only did one bar of damage to bosses (unlike the 2 you did back in the NES games), that made some bosses much more frustrating if I was going for buster only run throughs (Quick Man was especially frustrating I seem to recall).

 

[Noi]

Just finished my barebones run of X2. The twitch archives will likely be up by morning, though I'll try to put them up on YouTube. Emphasis on try since it's about 7:45 hours of video, haha.

I can't say it enough, fuck Violen 2 and whoever thought he was designed well. Even when I'm doing a normal run he's simply not fun to fight.

Edit: And it's up! Runtime: 7 hours 23 minutes.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Only when there's no tornado at the bottom. I haven't played it in a while but I think often you simply can't slide because of that.

Ah ok, I just remembered wrong then. Maybe it was just spamming Spark Shocks that trivialized him. The only boss I thought seemed harder than in 2 was Quick Man. Trying to actually hit him with the Gemini Laser or Search Snake was a bitch.

 

[The Mana Legend]

I planned on continuing with Crash Man next, but tower levels in Mega Man games are always the fucking worst and I wasn’t in the best mood at the time. So I went with Metal Man, the most badass Robot Master in Mega Man 2! He also has the most overpowered skill ever in a Mega Man game as well, but since I am doing a buster-only run, it does not matter right now.

Metal Man’s level is probably the easiest in the entire game, with the only annoying parts being when you have to slowly tread your way through the endless metal corn of the cobs drilling their way through the walls. It is really simple other than that, unless you have troubles with conveyor belts, which can get annoying if you barely miss a jump because of one of them

Metal Man’s stage is also the first level ever where the famous Mega Man E-Tank appears (assuming you do the typical MM2 playthrough of doing Metal Man first). While a lot of Mega Man games try to hide their E-Tanks in really tough or hidden spots, Metal Man’s might be one of the easiest to get in Mega Man history. Just walk to the edge, and let the conveyor belt guide you back. Simple shit.

I safely navigate the really easy level, dodging the Jenga enemies and the Jester gear rider things, all while listening to the immensely satisfying tune that works incredibly well with the aesthetic of the game. If there’s one improvement that is most obvious from the get go in Mega Man 2, it’s how amazingly perfect the music fits with the levels. It’s the most brilliant NES soundtrack out there.

Well, I get to Metal Man, which is also on a conveyor belt that constantly changes direction. But luckily his metal blades are incredibly easy to dodge. Annoyingly enough however, he also seems to dodge your bullets really well. So the battle turns into the longest Robot Master battle in MM2, with both of you looking like morons, jumping and missing every damn shot. It takes a long time, but it’s otherwise a really easy battle.

I beat him, get Metal Blade, and it’s onto Wood Man! Unfortunately, I forgot to take screenshots of the entire level up until the final fight against Wood Man. Luckily, there’s not much to miss. Dodge the mechanical ostriches and the dogs that shoot fire, and you’re pretty set.

Wood Man himself is kind of annoying, if only because the falling leaves from the ceiling are tough to dodge sometimes if you’re trying to dodge his leaf shield at the same time. It takes decent jumping skills, but once you get it down, it’s pretty easy. And once you do, you get the useless leaf shield! Oh joy!

Four more bosses left! I think I will do Crash Man next just to get it over with.

 

[The Mana Legend]

Goddammit Crash Man music.

You're so infuriatingly annoying. But I can't. Get you. Out of. My fucking. Head.

 

[Teknoman]

Goddammit Crash Man music.

You're so infuriatingly annoying. But I can't. Get you. Out of. My fucking. Head.

Nooo you're going to make someone post that music video o_o

EDIT: I'll join in with you. Nice to have this thread for playthroughs and the community for general all Megaman discussion. Are you going to make a Megaman X playthrough thread after you cut through 1-10? Or will this serve for any series game?

 

[The Mana Legend]

Nooo you're going to make someone post that music video o_o

EDIT: I'll join in with you. Nice to have this thread for playthroughs and the community for general all Megaman discussion. Are you going to make a Megaman X playthrough thread after you cut through 1-10? Or will this serve for any series game?

This is for any series, it doesn't matter. I am doing the X series after I do MM1-10 and Bass, then the Legends series, and then the ZX series. Then a couple of Battle Network and Star Force games.

Not doing the Zero series since I just did that a month ago.

 

[megarockexe]

I can play the Battle Network games for you, guys!

*remembers the artificially prolonged quests of Mega Man Battle Network 4: Blue Moon*

Fuck this shit, I'll just play the first three.

The first one is terrible though. Don't even bother. Play 2, 3, and 6, or 2, 5, and 6 so at least it looks like you're playing a different game.

Gah, and what's this? A Buster-only run of the classic games? I've still yet to beat a single one.

 

[SolarKnight]

The first one is terrible though.

I wouldn't say terrible, just dated.

Anyways, I'll probably start my "naked" SF1 run either today or tomorrow. It'll be more of an endurance run though, I don't even think it's possible at all to beat the game like that. Even if it is, it'd mean having to deal about 1000HP with the first buster only at the end of the game, and fuck that shit.

 

[The Mana Legend]

The first one is terrible though. Don't even bother. Play 2, 3, and 6, or 2, 5, and 6 so at least it looks like you're playing a different game.

Gah, and what's this? A Buster-only run of the classic games? I've still yet to beat a single one.

I do no-hit buster runs in my sleep (I've beaten Mega Man 1-10, Mega Man X1-X6, and Mega Man Zero 1-4 without getting hit). But I don't want these playthroughs to be stressful, so I'm just trying to have fun, hahaha.

And I liked Battle Network 1. Unfortunately, the only other one I played after that was 5 a year ago, which was complete garbage.

 

[megarockexe]

I do no-hit buster runs in my sleep (I've beaten Mega Man 1-10, Mega Man X1-X6, and Mega Man Zero 1-4 without getting hit). But I don't want these playthroughs to be stressful, so I'm just trying to have fun, hahaha.

And I liked Battle Network 1. Unfortunately, the only other one I played after that was 5 a year ago, which was complete garbage.

Well at least I know people who do "no-hit buster runs in their sleep" are real. I thought I was just kidding myself. Maybe I'm not so bad at these games after all?

 

[The Mana Legend]

Well at least I know people who do "no-hit buster runs in their sleep" are real. I thought I was just kidding myself. Maybe I'm not so bad at these games after all?

Nah, it's really just super memorization really. I'm not very good at Mega Man. Hell, when Mega Man 9 came out I HATED it because I couldn't beat a single level in it. And this was after I beat MM1-8 without getting hit.

It's just all memorization and shit.

 

[Noi]

Yo Mana Legend, you gonna put up other runs in the OP besides yours? :V

 

[The Mana Legend]

Yo Mana Legend, you gonna put up other runs in the OP besides yours? :V

Yep, if the person wants it up there.

 

[Noi]

Yep, if the person wants it up there.

The person would like it up there. *nod*

 

[The Mana Legend]

The person would like it up there. *nod*

Great! I'll put it up right now.

I actually might do something like this instead. Where I just upload my playthroughs and record them and then write a review about the game. I just don't have it in my to write like I used to when I was younger, hahaha.